Authorities say that after a teller slid a bundle of $20 bills to a Dallas firefighter accused of robbing a bank Tuesday evening, he slid one back to her and said, “Here is a tip for you.”

Dallas police officers took firefighter Jesus Ventura into custody after what officials say was a brief crime spree that included the attempted robbery of a nearby convenience store. The Irving resident was already on administrative leave after authorities say he fired a gun inside a fire station last month.

Ventura, 37, faces a federal bank robbery charge. He was ordered detained Wednesday in an appearance before U.S. Magistrate Jeff Kaplan. A probable cause and detention hearing has been scheduled for Monday before another federal magistrate.

A federal public defender representing Ventura declined to comment, but Ventura did attempt to explain himself in court. Frequently taking long pauses to answer questions from the judge, he said that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety. He said he hadn’t been taking his medications because they’d been taken in a car burglary.

The judge asked him how long he had been without his medications. Pausing to think about it, Ventura asked the judge for the day and time. Ventura then said his medications make it difficult for him to keep track of things.

He told Kaplan that he was living alone with his pets and that he and his wife were having issues. Ventura, who joined the fire department in 2004, told the judge he had had trouble sleeping and that his current situation seemed “surreal.”

On March 8, Ventura was involved in a confrontation at a West Dallas fire station. Police say Ventura was off duty that morning when he walked into the station on West Commerce Street with a holstered gun. He drew the gun and “began moving it around” and pointing it in the direction of several people, according to a Dallas police report.

The witnesses “moved behind him, telling him to put the gun on safe,” the report said. “Several seconds later, the gun discharged.” Witnesses disarmed Ventura, the report said. No injuries were reported.

A week later, Ventura was arrested at his Irving home after police obtained a warrant accusing him of a misdemeanor charge of deadly conduct. He was not immediately booked into jail and was taken to a location that police officials declined to identify. On March 27, he was booked into the Dallas County Jail, then released later that day.

About 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, authorities say, a man later identified as Ventura walked into the lobby of the Chase Bank branch at 1881 Sylvan Ave.

A bank employee told authorities that the man asked to use the restroom. She gave him the code to use the restroom and told him where it was. She saw him leave the bank lobby and then return.

When he returned, a bank teller asked if she could help him. He replied, “I am sorry to do this to you. I really am. Give me all the money.”

The teller, employed by the bank for two weeks, told federal agents that she stared at him as he repeatedly told her to give him the money. Police say the man then raised a black backpack, making her think that he had a weapon in it. She slid a bundle of $20 bills under the glass. The man calmly walked away with about $1,900.

About a half-hour later, authorities say, the same man walked into a Valero gas station at Westmoreland Road and Fort Worth Avenue and demanded money from the clerk. “Don’t close the cash register — I have a friend for you,” the man said as he gestured toward a black backpack, police said.

The man reached over the counter as the clerk tried to close the register, keeping it from shutting. The man fled without getting any money.

Dallas police officers found Ventura a few blocks away, walking in the 3600 block of West Davis Street. The bank’s money was in his left front pants pocket, records state, and police took a backpack but found no weapon.